This invention generally relates to an occupant weight sensing system for a vehicle. More particularly, this invention relates to a simplified arrangement of sensing occupant weight using a strain gage.
Occupant weight sensing systems are commonly used to determine the size and position of a vehicle occupant. The vehicle occupant information is utilized in vehicle safety systems, including airbag deployment.
Once such sensing system, described U.S. Pat. No. 6,005,199, which describes a sensing system including a load cell having design features to lengthen the load path. The load path is lengthened from the loading point to the strain occurrence measurement area. Such an approach allows improvement of the strain profile in the measurement area to some extent. The sensing system also includes a spherical end pin to transmit force within the load path. However, the sensing system does not allow for decoupling of the strain occurrence measurement area.
It is therefore desirable to develop and design an improved arrangement for an occupant weight sensing system using a strain gage which allows for decoupling of the sensor element while limiting the additional hardware required.